Saturday, February 25, 2006

Idiot Ostrich Behavior

News has come out of Chicago that a review board of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago advised Cardinal Francis George to remove a priest, Daniel McCormack, who had been accused of molesting young boys three months before the priest was arrested. McCormack was removed from ministry in Janaury after being charged with sexually abusing three boys. What makes this case tragic is that one boy says he was abused as recently as December.

Here's the most infuriating part of this story, the response by the archdiocese spokesperson, Jim Dwyer. While Dwyer said he could not confirm or deny the report of the board's recommendation, "It's my understanding that it wasn't an official recommendation," he said.

Talk about hiding one's head in the sand.

This is all too reminiscent of Cardinal Bernard Law's behavior in Boston. Cardinal Law ignored a virtual tsunami of allegations of child sexual abuse by priests. Cardinal Law either allowed the priests to continue to serve, or transferred them elsewhere. Had there been any justice in the Boston abuse case, Cardinal Law would have been charged with aiding and abetting in the commission of a felony and perhaps outright conspiracy. Had he been found guilty, I'm sure that some inmate named Bubba could have personally introduced the Cardinal to the horror of molestation. Instead, Cardinal Law got a promotion to the Vatican, and the Boston archdiocese is teetering on bankruptcy in the wake of settling dozens of lawsuits.

This behavior has got to stop, and it's up to the church hierarchy to set an example.